Amateur Athlete: Kallstrom's Breakout Places Him On MLB Draft Radar

KLAMATH FALLS—Oregon Tech first baseman Josh Kallstrom has hit his way into the spotlight.

As a junior, he leads the NAIA West in OPS, is top-15 nationally in total bases, and perhaps most impressively, he’s just the second player in OIT history to blast double digit home runs with the deadened BBCOR bats.

"If you would've told me at the beginning of the season, 'Yeah you're going to hit ten home runs,' I would've been like, 'Ha. No way,'" he said.

Kallstrom’s rise to an offensive force didn’t even begin with a starting job. But after two seasons at Big Bend Community College in Washington, he tinkered with his swing and made it impossible to keep him out of the Owls lineup.

He broke down the mechanics that are enabling his breakout.

"I keep my knob pointed towards the catcher,” he said. “That helps me get my wrists in a flex position. I stride at 45 degrees to help open up my hips. And also have my hands farther away from by body so I can get a little more whip on my swing."

"He's on an even keel,” head coach Matt Miles said. “It doesn't matter if it's a bad at bat or great at bat, he goes up there with the same attitude.”

In the process of forcing his way into the OIT lineup on a regular basis, Kallstrom has also now forced his name onto MLB Draft boards.

"I've already talked with the Marlins scouts and the other scouts,” Miles said. “I want to put Kallstrom on the board for them and show a guy that can really swing it in this league."